Western Union (NYSE: WU), announced on Monday it was expanding its real-time cross-border platform to accelerate international consumer, consumer-to-business and business-to-consumer payments to eligible accounts, cards, and digital wallets.
“Globally recognized for daily cross-currency management and settlement via its vast retail network across 20,000 corridors or pairs of countries for consumers in local currency, the company’s expanded money in minutes platform will now power next-generation cross-border payment experiences for consumers and businesses across a multitude of sectors.”
While sharing more details about the expansion, Western Union President and CEO, Hikmet Ersek, stated:
“This is a prime example of how the global reach, inter-connectedness and speed of our platform generate a meaningful customer benefit that is difficult to replicate for cross-border transactions. Our unique cross-border platform cuts through the international complexities so customers can access their funds in real-time. As we expand from our roots in C2C remittances, we’re positioning ourselves as the platform that powers next-generation payment experiences for businesses and FIs for their diverse cross-border payments needs.”
Western Union added its cross-border payments capability is now active when sending to select banks or digital wallet providers in 17 countries, which are Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. As many as 100 countries are being assessed for enablement of real-time capabilities by the end of 2020.
